Hide and Seek
by Laoise Potter
Summary: Maura hasn't been around much lately. Jane and Frankie find out why. Now a multi-chapter fic! Ch. 2: Jane is coaxed into doing something she never thought she'd be able to do again.
1. Hide and Seek

**A/N: **Inspiration from this story came from a whole bunch of different places: my recent trip into Boston, my university's Christmas concert coming up, general boredom, and the fact that I've had Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" on repeat for the past 48 hours. I highly suggest listening to the song before you read on—there are remixes up the wazoo, but to get the full effect of the story, you definitely have to hear the original. I imagine the singer in this fic to have a voice very similar to Heap's, so if you want a clear picture of what's going on, avoid the dubstep! (Even though it's pretty awesome). Enjoy!

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><p>Maura wasn't around much anymore. Well, of course she was at work every day, but when it came to nighttime and weekends off, she would disappear off the map completely. Jane had tried to track her down numerous times, but Angela had no idea where she was going and after six P.M. her phone almost always went to voicemail. When Maura did pick up, the response was always "I have a previous engagement. I'm sorry, Jane, but I just can't get out of it. It's too important."<p>

It was starting to piss off the detective, a fact that became obvious to everyone around her. She'd snap at random officers in the café whenever Korsak and Frost couldn't keep her confined to the bullpen, and when she was up there moral became so low that Cavanaugh finally took Frankie aside and ordered him to occupy her for a weekend.

"I don't care what the hell you do, just fix her," the lieutenant growled as he shut the door on Frankie one Friday afternoon, leaving the younger Rizzoli to figure out how he was possibly going to cheer Jane up.

The next day, he showed up at his sister's door dressed warmly. "I'm taking you out on the town."

"Fat chance." In her sweatshirt and yoga pants, Jane wandered back into her kitchen to grab an apple. "Aren't you on call today, anyways?"

"I'm supposed to help you get your head on straight," Frankie replied, leaning against the doorframe. "Cavanaugh's gonna kick my ass otherwise."

"Well, in that case…" Jane flopped gracelessly back down on her couch, flicked on a _Friends _rerun marathon and proceeded to ignore her brother.

Frankie waited about thirty-five seconds before he crossed the room to stand in between Jane and Ross, Rachel and Phoebe's argument about "unagi". "Come on, Janie. We'll take the T down to Back Bay, do some Christmas shopping there, then hit up Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market for dinner and head home from South Station. It'll be fun, I promise."

"Oh yeah, holiday shopping with you sounds like a barrel full of monkeys," Jane grumbled through a mouthful of apple, craning her neck to try and see around Frankie.

"If you come, I won't make you buy me a present this year."

"Tempting, but MOVE."

Frankie sighed and reached into his pocket. "Don't make me use this, Jane," he threatened, brandishing his phone.

A half-smile of amusement appeared on the detective's face. "You gonna call the fuzz on me?"

"I think you know exactly who I'm gonna call."

A look of horror slowly replaced Jane's grin. "You wouldn't."

Frankie gave her a pointed look. She dropped what was left of her apple on the table and lunged for her brother. "Frankie—!"

He dodged her. "Speed dial number TWO—"

"Alright, alright, I'll go!" She gave Frankie a hard shove and stomped towards her bedroom. "I _hate_ it when you bring Ma into it."

The younger Rizzoli smiled in satisfaction. "Ten minutes, Jane."

"Yeah, whatever."

The sun was setting by the time Jane and Frankie made it to Quincy Market, still arguing about the amount of time they spent in Tine's Electronics.

"You found that video pen for Korsak, what're you complaining about?"

"We spent an extra twenty minutes in there just so you could stare at that employee with the two-foot-wide hovercraft. Come on, Frank, really?"

"It was a hovercraft, Jane! A hovercraft!"

"Yeah, and you're a child."

"Hey, I stood in Tiffany's with you for a good half hour while you picked out just the right bracelet to give Maura. That was a bit ridiculous."

"She sent me to racing school for my birthday! How was I supposed to follow that up?"

Frankie thought for a second, then shrugged. "A hovercraft?"

As they approached the gigantic Faneuil Hall Christmas tree, Jane noticed a crowd gathering near the south entrance of the Market. "Damn, street performers." She gestured with the fist holding the Tiffany's bag. "Now _there_ is the start of a riot."

"You're crazy."

"No, I'm reasonable." Jane glanced around for a way to avoid the gathering. "Sound like plastic buckets and drumsticks to you?"

"Nah, it's actually…" Frankie took a few steps closer to the crowd and listened hard. After a couple moments, his eyes widened. "Hey, it's the Subdominants!"

"The Subdominants?" Jane snorted. "They sound weak."

"No, they're an acapella group based near Maura and Ma's place." Frankie grabbed his sister's arm and began to drag her towards the performers, eliciting a "hey!" from the older detective. "Come on, let's listen for a bit.

"Oh, would you—" Jane yanked her arm out of her brother's grasp with a huff. "I can walk myself…and what the hell do _you_ know about an acapella group near Maura and Ma?"

Frankie shrugged again. "I get around."

The Subdominants, a group of about fifteen adults, were finishing up a jazzy version of "Sleigh Ride" as the Rizzolis maneuvered their way to the front of the crowd. They clapped along with everyone else when the piece was over, Jane somewhat reluctantly, and an older man in a cheery red hat-and-scarf set approached the microphone.

"I'd like to thank you all for stopping by and listening to us today, we really appreciate it," the man said in a light Southern drawl, flashing a set of pearly whites. "Now, we only have one piece left for y'all, and it isn't really a Christmas song, but our newest member sounded so good on the melody that we just had to share it with the world." He turned away from the microphone for a moment and motioned for the group to rearrange and come forward. "Here to make her Subdominants debut, singing lead for Imogen Heap's 'Hide and Seek', let's all give a big round of applause for our newest soprano—Maura Isles!"

Jane and Frankie froze. The throng burst into supportive applause as a very pink, very happy-looking Maura Isles centered herself by the microphone, the rest of the Subdominants arranging themselves behind her. The siblings slowly turned to look at each other, completely stunned.

"Did you see that coming?"

"Absolutely not."

A pitch pipe sounded one note and the crowd fell silent. Jane and Frankie turned their attention back to Maura and her groupmates, all looking quite serious as they began the very slow, meaningful ballad.

"_Where are we? What the hell is going on?_

_The dust has only just begun to fall,_

_Crop circles in the carpet, sinking, feeling."_

The elegant otherworldliness of the piece stunned Jane, almost as much as seeing her shy best friend contributing to the sound. "I can't believe this is what she's been doing," Jane hissed to her brother, never once taking her eyes off of Maura. Frankie just nodded, still dumbstruck, and they both continued to listen with fervor.

"_Spin me round again and rub my eyes,_

_This can't be happening._

_When busy streets a mess with people_

_Would stop to hold their heads heavy."_

Jane felt an odd swoop in her stomach as Maura raised her head and took a step closer to the microphone. "She's actually going to do it, isn't she?"

"_Hide and seek,_

_Trains and sewing machines..."_

Jane's jaw dropped. "Oh, my _God_." Maura's voice was perfect—that was the only way she could think of describing it. Strong but light, blending with the harmonies beautifully, it could bring the hardest of hearts to tears.

_All those years, they were here first."_

The ME stood still when her part was over, and the rest of the Subdominants joined in.

"_Oily marks appear on walls_

_Where pleasure moments hung before._

_The takeover, the sweeping intensity of_

_Still life."_

Maura leaned towards the microphone again. Jane grabbed her brother's jacket with shaking hands. "Who the hell is she anymore?"

"_Hide and seek,_

_Trains and sewing machines (Oh, you won't catch me around here)"_

The detective's vision blurred with tears, catching her completely by surprise.

"_Blood and tears…"_

Maura opened her mouth and belted out a high note, the likes of which neither Rizzoli had ever heard before.

"_They were here first."_

Jane brought one hand up to her mouth and realized her cheeks were soaked with tears. "Oh my God," she whispered, half-laughing, voice otherwise choked with emotion. "This is amazing."

"_Mm, what you say?_

_Mm, that you only meant well? Well, of course you did._

_Mm, what you say?_

_Mm, that it's all for the best? Because it is._

_Mm, what you say?_

_Mm, that it's just what we need? And you decided this._

_Mm, what you say? What did she say?"_

"Jane, are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, Frank," Jane waved off her brother's concern, feeling another wave of tears coming. "I just…she has such a great voice. Why has she been hiding it?"

"_Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth,_

_Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs._

_Speak no feeling, no I don't believe you._

_You don't care a bit. You don't care a bit."_

Maura slid her harmonies gracefully over the rest of the Subdominants as they repeated the phrase back and forth to each other, echoing the last line several times over before it was just one woman in the back row singing.

"_You don't care a bit."_

There was a few seconds of complete and total silence when the song ended. Then, as suddenly as if somebody had flicked a switch, applause burst forth, echoing out across the entire Marketplace, nearly shaking the stones beneath their feet. Jane and Frankie clapped the hardest, each of them so ridiculously proud of Maura Isles, who was happily taking her third bow before the mass and the Subdominants dispersed, everybody chattering about what had just happened.

"Maura…Maura!"

Jane began pushing her way towards her friend, heedless of anybody and everybody who stood in her way. Frankie followed his sister and took up the job of apologizing to whomever she stepped on or elbowed. "Jane, slow down!"

She ignored him and finally reached a break in the crowd. "Maura!"

The ME turned towards the sound of Jane's voice, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw the detective rushing towards her. "Jane? What are you—"

She cut herself off with an "oof!" as Jane threw her arms around her, nearly tackling her to the ground. "Why didn't you tell us you could do that?" the taller woman demanded, her voice muffled by her friend's scarf.

Maura quickly wrapped her limbs around the detective's lean body, holding on for dear life. "Jane, I…" She hesitated when she felt cold wetness on her neck and pushed away carefully to cup her friend's cheeks. "My God, Jane, why are you crying?"

"I'm crying because that was incredible, Maura!" Jane exclaimed, her voice cracking. She reached up and drew the ME's hands away from her face to clutch them in her own, and repeated, "Why didn't you tell us you could do that?"

Maura's face flushed, barely visible in the lightly illuminated Marketplace. "Well, I didn't know how well I could do it, until I just…did it, and I wasn't sure how comfortable I would be singing in front of people I knew." She tilted her head to one side. "To be honest, I'm not sure I would have been able to perform, had I known you and Frankie were there."

Jane frowned. "But now, after you've done it once? Would it matter if we were watching?"

A smile lit up Maura's expression. "Absolutely not. Come to think of it…I'm glad you came. It saved me the embarrassment of asking you to show up."

"Sweetie, there's nothing to be embarrassed about!" Jane pulled her friend in tightly again. "You sounded amazing and I can't wait to hear you again."

"Really?"

"Really," Frankie chimed in, having snuck up on the two of them unnoticed. The women released each other and Maura slid her arms around Frankie in a friendly hug. "Great job, Doc."

"Thank you both, so much." Maura stepped back and finally took stock of the situation, looking over the shopping bags the siblings were holding. "You went to Tiffany's, Jane? It doesn't seem like your kind of store."

"Um, Christmas present for Ma," Jane said quickly, dropping the small turquoise bag into the larger Tine's one. "I'll show you some other time."

Frankie noticed the look of curiosity cross the ME's face and decided to save his sister. "Hey, Doc, we were just about to grab dinner. Care to join us?"

"I'd love to," Maura replied, smiling once again. She slipped an arm through each of the Rizzoli's and let them lead her into Quincy Market, happy to not have to hide her secret from them any longer.

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><p><strong>AN2: **I'm debating over whether or not I should continue this. Thoughts?


	2. Christmas Canon

**A/N:** You guys. You guys you guys you GUYS. Seventeen reviews? WHAT? You're awesome. You all are beyond incredible. The feedback for this story was so good that I just had to indulge you all and give you more. This will now be a multi-chapter fic (well, at least a four-shot, 'cause I have the next two chapters planned already) and I hope you'll continue to follow along! I know a couple of you wanted to see Jane get in on the music action going on here, so…;) happy reading!

Oh, and y'all know they're not mine, right? Good!

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><p>Christmas was just a few days away. The holidays seemed to have put good spirits into even the scroogiest of Scrooges, and Boston Homicide had almost no work to do during the last week of Advent. The Rizzolis were gearing up for a huge family Christmas Day get-together—something that Maura would, of course, be included in. Jane had become used to the doctor's disappearing acts and didn't mind not seeing her so much after work, being as it was their time together during the day increased greatly with the decrease of murders to solve. For once, she didn't mind the change in her life.<p>

Something she did mind, however, was being pushed into doing something that she wasn't sure she had the strength to accomplish. And if she knew the pressure was coming, she may not have opened the door that Monday night.

"Hey! What are you doing here? I thought you had rehearsal."

"I got permission to come and find you," Maura replied casually, striding confidently into her best friend's apartment. Jane noticed a slight spring in her step as she closed the door, and raised an eyebrow at it before the shorter woman turned around.

"Um…why?"

Maura gave Jane her best I'm-determined-to-convince-you-that-what-is-about-to-come-out-of-my-mouth-is-absolutely-wonderful smile and cocked her head to one side. "The Subdominants have a favor to ask of you."

Jane blinked once. "No, I will not badge you into the Barbershop Quartet World Championships."

The ME laughed, causing Jane to smile and, in turn, breaking any tension created by her unexpected appearance. "Don't be ridiculous. The Championships were last weekend, in New Jersey."

"You would know that," Jane said with a smirk, taking her friend's coat and folding it over the arm of the couch.

Maura grinned and sat down. "Benny, our leader, has a brother who competed. They won fourth place."

"Remind me to send them a gift basket." Jane dropped herself down next to her friend and faced her. "So. What's this favor you need me to do?"

Maura folded her hands, took a deep breath, and looked Jane straight in the eye. "The Subdominants want you to play one song for us at the end of our concert on Christmas Eve."

All color drained from Jane's face. Memories came flooding back—much of them undesirable. She involuntarily flexed her fingers, then shut her eyes and steeled herself. "Maura…"

"No, listen, Jane…" Maura placed both her hands over one of the detective's knees. "We're putting on a concert in collaboration with the Children's Choir of Saint Joseph's. Their regular organist is taking the holidays off to be with her family in Georgia and the only number that isn't acapella is the only one the children sing by themselves. The rest of the Subdominants have connections solely in the world of vocalists…so I offered to ask you." She tilted her head and studied her friend's closed lids cautiously. "Jane, please say something."

Jane opened her eyes halfway, glaring. "You can't do that," she said, her voice dangerously low.

Maura's forehead creased. "Do what?"

"Try to guilt me into doing something you know I can't do!" Jane suddenly burst out, swinging her legs off the couch and storming into the kitchen. Maura sat frozen for a moment, stunned, then jumped up and hurried to follow her friend.

"Jane, that's not what I was trying to—"

"Yes, that's _exactly _what you were trying to do!" Jane snapped, spinning around to catch Maura by surprise and cause her to stumble backwards. "I haven't played since I became a detective and there's a _reason _for that, Maura!"

"The reason is because you were afraid of Charles Hoyt!" Maura tried to defend herself, but stopped short as Jane shoved a finger in her face, eyes flashing with anger.

"Don't you _dare _use that against me," Jane growled dangerously. Her hand was shaking as she held it mere inches from Maura's nose. "Don't you _ever _use that against me!"

"Jane…"

The detective dropped her arm with a disdainful scoff and turned away from the doctor. "My _God_, Maura, did you even _consider_ me when you made the offer?"

"Of course I considered you, it's the only reason I brought you up in the first place!" Maura shouted, irritation flaring up inside her.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Jane yelled, turning back around.

"Yes, it does!"

Maura stepped forward and grabbed both of Jane's hands in her own before the detective could react, holding them tightly. "Charles Hoyt did this to you, Jane, but he's _dead_ now. He's dead and gone and he's never going to hurt you, ever again."

Jane struggled in Maura's grasp but that only made the doctor hold tighter. She dropped her voice into a low, soothing tone. "I know how much it still scares you sometimes, Jane. I've been around for a couple of your nightmares, remember?"

The detective's angry expression began to fade and her eyes became moist. "Maura…"

"Jane." Maura refused to break eye contact with her friend. "I want you to heal. I want you to feel whole again. I would never, ever try to make you do anything I thought would harm you. This will _help_ you. I know it."

Two tears slipped down Jane's cheeks. "Maura…" she whispered again.

"Shh." The ME let go of one of her friend's hands and gently used her thumb to wipe away the tears. "I truly believe that if you do this, you'll be able to let go of him forever." She brought the hand that she still held up to her lips and lightly kissed the scar on the back. "Please…at least think about it."

Without another word, Maura released her friend and made her way back over to the couch to, reluctantly, don her coat. Jane stood still for a few moments, her scar tingling where Maura's mouth had landed. She watched the doctor approach the door and, suddenly, she believed her.

"Maura."

The ME glanced at Jane, fingers wrapped around the doorknob. "Yes?"

Jane sighed heavily and shut her eyes. She clenched her fingers and took a deep breath.

"When can I pick up the sheet music?"

A small smile snuck its way into Maura's expression. "I'll bring it to work tomorrow."

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><p>Jane stood outside of Saint Joseph's, shivering as she stared up at the stained glass windows. The concert was already underway and she found it harder to breathe as each number progressed. As quickly and as quietly as she could, she stole out the back door and walked around to the street side of the church, wrinkling the sheet music in her clenched fist. She didn't really need it—she memorized the piece easily—but in some ways, it felt like a lifeline.<p>

"God, why did I do this?"

A cold wind picked up and sent a shiver through the detective, despite having grabbed her jacket before she went outside. What a Christmas Eve it was turning out to be—freezing cold, standing at the foot of the stairs leading into an unfamiliar church, just waiting for a chance to embarrass herself. Or worse, to lose herself.

Jane jumped when she saw the front door opening, the sounds of the male Subdominants singing "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" leaking out into the street. Her eyes widened as Maura stepped out of the church, head swiveling this way and that til she spotted the Rizzoli standing right in front of her. "Jane?"

"Maura, what are you doing?" Jane crossed her arms and tried to appear casual. "Shouldn't you be singing?"

"Benny organized a couple male-only carols to perform." Maura approached her friend, shaking badly when the cold air cut straight through her lightweight dress and wrap. "Why are you out here?"

The anxious expression on Jane's face immediately dissolved into one of concern as she watched Maura tremble. "I just needed some air. Come here, you're shaking like Jo on bath days."

The detective opened her jacket and held out her arms. Maura sighed—whether of relief or irritation, Jane didn't know—but nevertheless approached the detective and turned into her embrace, her back pressed up against Jane's stomach. Jane stretched her jacket around Maura's shoulders and locked her fingers, holding the ME tightly.

"I thought you were running away."

Jane let out a breath, sending a puff of hot carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. "I'd never leave those kids hanging. Not on Christmas Eve."

The two friends gazed up at the church steeple in silence for a few moments. Maura leaned back ever-so-slightly to rest her head against Jane's neck. "I know you're scared. But we're all behind you, okay? Every last one of us. Every last step."

Jane shifted her grip on her friend and Maura's hip caused the Tiffany's box in her pocket to dig into her thigh. "I know. And I'm grateful."

Applause echoed faintly through the walls of the church. Maura reached up to gently unlace Jane's fingers and pull her up the steps. They hesitated right in front of the doors, and Maura looked deeply into Jane's eyes. "Are you ready?"

The detective straightened herself and quickly ran a hand over the sheet music. "As I'll ever be."

Jane went on autopilot the moment Maura opened the door to lead her inside, and didn't remember hearing Benny introduce her or bowing before taking her seat at the organ. The silence that fell once she was settled was what dragged her back into reality, and she shot an I'm-going-to-be-fine look at Maura, who was seated between Korsak and Angela in the front, before turning her attention to the choir's elderly conductor. The old nun smiled at her and Jane grinned back, feeling a little better.

_Please, let this happen._

She chanced one more glance at Maura, whose eyes shone as she nodded her head in the conductor's direction. Jane let out a breath, lowered her hands onto the keys, and began to play the slow, repetitive beginning of her favorite Trans Siberian Orchestra song.

"_Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas…_

_The joy that He brings, the joy that He brings…"_

The children in the choir, ages seven to thirteen, wore festive red robes with holly leaves pinned to their chests, looking very serious as they held out their notes at the end of the phrase. Jane took a moment to admire their natural talent before she steadied herself and slowly coaxed a variation on Pachebel's Canon in D out of the old organ.

"_Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo…"_

The choir split itself into two groups, balancing with the bass line of the organ for one phrase, and then it came time for the part Jane had challenged herself to learn. She inhaled deeply, took over what she was doing with both hands with just her left, and fluidly began on the top melody of the song on her right, keeping up with the tempo beautifully. There were some murmurs from the audience, including a loud sniff from one Maura Isles, but Jane didn't register any of it as she completed the line and felt her spirits soar.

"_This night, we pray_

_Our lives will show_

_This dream He had,_

_Each child still knows…"_

The children layered themselves accordingly, keeping the audience enraptured as a third and fourth group embellished the harmonies with a different set of lyrics.

"_We are waiting_

_We have not forgotten…"_

The two eldest girls in the choir took up the descant.

"_On this night, on this night, on this very Christmas night…"_

Jane was flying. She hadn't felt this good in so long. The music seemed to surround her, embrace her, comfort her. She was home. Here, in the church, with the melodies returning—she chanced a glance into the pews again—with her family, with her friends…

With Maura…

Her left hand began to roll again without her even thinking about it as the children brought their chorus to a close. She refocused on the melody, ecstatic to be on the home stretch, and slid smoothly into the final chord of the canon.

A standing ovation had Jane nearly in tears. She knew that most of the faces in the audience were turned towards the children, but without even looking for her supporters, she could feel Maura's eyes on her. After taking two quick bows, Jane left her place at the organ and made her way to her family, grinning wildly.

"Janie!" Angela was practically sobbing as she drew her eldest into a tight hug. "That was breathtaking! After all these years, you still play like an angel!"

"Thanks, Ma." Jane hugged her mother back, but pulled away a little impatiently, eager to move down the line. She embraced Frankie and Tommy next, each of them wise enough to not make jokes about the situation, and greeted Frost and Korsak with renewed energy, pride shining in both of her partners' eyes.

When she reached Maura, Jane didn't hesitate a second. She wrapped her fingers around one of the doctor's wrists and led her away from the group. "Come with me."

Maura, caught by surprise, stumbled a couple of steps as the detective pulled her towards the exit of the church. "Where are we going?"

"Just outside." Jane held the door open for her friend, and once Maura stepped out onto the newly snow-dusted sidewalk Jane took off her jacket and draped it around the ME's shoulders.

"Oh…thank you." Maura slipped her arms cautiously through the jacket's sleeves, slightly amused by how they were two inches too long. "But won't you be cold?"

"Are you kidding me? After that performance?" Jane laughed, sending several drifting snowflakes spinning away from her face. "Maura, I could fly to the moon." Her eyes met the doctor's and she smiled affectionately. "Thank you, so much. You really helped me pull through this."

Maura grinned back, feeling warmth build up from inside her. "You always had it in you, Jane. I never doubted that for a second."

They stared at each other happily for a few moments, until the snowflakes gathering in Jane's hair was starting to bother Maura. She reached up to brush some away and tugged at her friend's ebony tresses gently. "So why did you bring me out here?"

"Ah." Jane reached into her pocket as Maura stepped back, and drew out the box from Tiffany's, neatly wrapped in snowflake wrapping paper. "I wanted to give you this without everybody hanging around. It's…well…" She held it out. "Just open it. Merry Christmas."

The ME looked at Jane curiously as she took the box and carefully pulled the paper off. Her eyes widened as she read the name on the box. "You said you went there for your mother," she whispered.

"Maura, just open it."

She did, and gasped in shock. "Oh, Jane…"

Maura gently lifted the gold bracelet out of the box and stared at it in wonderment. "That's lapis lazuli, isn't it? The stone?"

Jane smiled. "I thought you'd like it."

"Jane, I…" Maura swallowed a lump in her throat. "This is too much."

"Maura." Jane took the wristlet with one hand and her friend's wrist in the other. "You've been there for me through countless cases, countless breakdowns, countless late-night panic attacks. You've seen me to the end of all this Hoyt craziness. I came stumbling into your life, and you accepted me and all my flaws without a second thought." She clasped the bracelet and looked Maura dead in the eye, honesty etched in every line of her face. "This doesn't even come close to what you're worth to me. You, Maura Isles, are priceless."

Tears threatened to spill onto Maura's cheeks as an incredible feeling of joy set fire to her insides. Without hesitation, she threw her arms around best friend's neck and buried her face deep into her dark locks. "I love you, so much."

Jane smiled widely and returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm. "I love you too, Maura. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Jane."

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><p><strong>AN2: **Next chapter, we're jumping to February to see what kind of Valentine's Day antics our songbird and ivory girl get into. Will their relationship crescendo magnificently, or fall flat in the face of adversity? Stay tuned!


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